anyone hear newstalk this morn, i think a junkie may have declared war! (2 Viewers)

[Anthony]

rummage through the bins

 

[São Paulo Punk]

I do have a bit of sympathy for the junkies, but they are where they are because of personal choice.

So... you don't have any sympathy for them.

 

[egg_]

I suspect that pharmacists are picking on a very disempowered group (lots and lots of people get their 'free' medication dispensed by pharmacists, not just people on methadone) against whom it is easy to rouse public opinion/fear to gain support for some other motive

I'm sure they'd freely admit this. If you're going to hurt someone, you may as well hurt someone nobody's very fond of

Also, they can't violate their contract with the state, and this falls outside the terms of the contract

 

[São Paulo Punk]

That’s been covered already. Recovering addicts can’t be hanging out with the people they got high with, especially if those people have no interest in quitting.

Why can’t all the addicts go to pharmacies?? Surely that would make more sense.

Indeed. Addiction is a form of mental illness. It is effectively a disability. Heroin addiction involves not just a mental but also a physical dependency, thus making it a serious pain in the hole to give up.

Why so, can a sick person not get their medication (I have a lot of problems with methadone too though) from a pharmacy?

Is it their annoying accent?

 

[São Paulo Punk]

cos of the thieving scum baggery

Oh yeah.

 

[São Paulo Punk]

I'm not saying heroin's not vile. But a certain amount of responsibility lies with the addicts themselves.

So what are you saying? They deserve it? Let them rot? Down with junkies?

That kind of thing...?

 

[Buzzo]

Lads clinics aint all bad. They're cool places if you need the support. Pharmacies don't have the skills and expertise to provide a lot of the services that the clinics do such as GP services, nursing services, referrals and connections to treatment programmes, counselling, group support, peer support, creative classes etc as well as dispensing methadone. Linking in at the clinic is a lifeline for many drug users who might otherwise have no connection with vital services.

Unfortunately, however paternalistic it is, a lot of people addicted to drugs don't really display a level of responsibility around their consumption of medication that merits non-interventionist/normal people on prescriptions approaches at all times. Most people won't get near 'take-aways' (i.e. meds dispensed in a pharmacy i.e. not having your daily dose handed to you by a nurse in a clinic) until they have proven that they won't take heroin on top of it and die of an overdose.

I think that having chemists to dispense to those who no longer need the extra care is awesome, so is having specialist services for those who need them in the form of clinics.

 

[Buzzo]

I'm sure they'd freely admit this. If you're going to hurt someone, you may as well hurt someone nobody's very fond of

Also, they can't violate their contract with the state, and this falls outside the terms of the contract

Freely admit to it? To the public? Ah would ye go on ourra dah! Things haven't gotten that bad have they?

What do you mean by violate contract? Who? I'm fairly clueless about this shit. Soz.

 

[therealjohnny]

Indeed. Addiction is a form of mental illness. It is effectively a disability. Heroin addiction involves not just a mental but also a physical dependency, thus making it a serious pain in the hole to give up.

Why so, can a sick person not get their medication (I have a lot of problems with methadone too though) from a pharmacy?

I've heard this before..it doesn't really wash with me. Heroin addicts as "disabled"? No

yes they need support, but that removes all responsibilty from the individual

 

[Corey]

I'm not saying heroin's not vile. But a certain amount of responsibility lies with the addicts themselves.

Yes and no. I would hold heroin responsible for heroin related assaults, deaths etc. A person's sense of responsibility just vanishes once they hit the skag.

 

[classic seanc]

yes they need support, but that removes all responsibilty from the individual

Not really.

 

[Buzzo]

A person's sense of responsibility just vanishes once they hit the skag.

I get your point, and agree to an extent, but I know plenty of drug users who wouldn't lay a finger on or rob another person (homeless, very poor, very stressed out people they are too).

 

[therealjohnny]

Me too. And I've also known people to use the "its not me its heroin" thing to act like assholes- but they were assholes before they even went on the gear


Just as it's unfair to call every addict a scumbag, it's also incorrect to assume every user is a helpless , mindless automaton in thrall to the drugs

 

[São Paulo Punk]

I've heard this before..it doesn't really wash with me. Heroin addicts as "disabled"? No

yes they need support, but that removes all responsibilty from the individual

No way, and lots of people get banged up for crimes committed in the pursuit of money to buy more drugs.

All Im saying is that someone who is receiving methodone on prescription should be entitled to avail of that prescription from a pharmacy, because they are trying to keep away from the lovely gear.

 

[São Paulo Punk]

Also, they can't violate their contract with the state, and this falls outside the terms of the contract

???

 

[Ferox13]

just got that photo off the live webcam on top of Q-bar on O'connell bridge....

Was it Anto or Greedo who shot first..

 

[KokaneeCowgirl]

So... you don't have any sympathy for them.

Em, no, I mean exactly what I said. I feel sorry for people who end up addicted, to anything, but not to the extent that I don't blame them for their own choices. Unless of course someone held a gun to their head and forced them to snort or shoot up or whatever...?

 

[egg_]

???

AFAIK pharmacists have a contract with the government to supply drugs at a certain price to certain people (medical card holders, presumably). The methadone thing isn't part of that contract, so they can opt out of that without breaking their main government contract

 

[desertedvillage]

now there's a fact!
back this one up, just for me.

Well I don't have the statistics but when the story broke on Newstalk the other day there was a social worker who worked with addicts making this very point as well as two employed people on methadone voicing their fears.
Junkies are people; some of them have kids to support and want to improve their lives, some are happy to languish on the dole and methadone and others will stab you in the cock with syringe for a fiver.
I've also spent time with people on heroin and methadone. If you take just enough methadone to prevent withdrawal symptoms you can get through the day just fine. Posting on Thumped from work has a far worse effect on productivity than being on methadone.

 

[Vinnie]

Em, no, I mean exactly what I said. I feel sorry for people who end up addicted, to anything, but not to the extent that I don't blame them for their own choices. Unless of course someone held a gun to their head and forced them to snort or shoot up or whatever...?

Almost everyone who was ever born would try heroin if the circumstances were wrong.